1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Aubenas

AUBENAS, a town of south-eastern France, in the department of Ardèche, 19 m. S.W. of Privas by road. Pop. (1906) 3976 (town), 7064 (commune). Aubenas is beautifully situated on the slope of a hill, on the right bank of the Ardèche, but its streets generally are crooked and narrow. It has a castle of the 13th and 16th centuries, now occupied by several of the public institutions of the town. These include a tribunal and chamber of commerce, and a conditioning-house for silk. Iron and coal mines are worked in the vicinity. As the centre of the silk trade of southern France Aubenas is a place of considerable traffic. It has also a large silk spinning and weaving industry, and carries on tanning and various minor industries together with trade in silk. The district is rich in plantations of mulberries and olives.